Ace's Academy for Superheroes
by Cassidy S. Waters
Summary: Xover with Zoom. Ace is a retired superhero. But when an old foe returns and seeks vengeance, Ace must help six unlikely teens with their powers in hopes that they can defeat the villain. But will Ace's old grudges put the new Zenith team in jeparty?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the theme idea, plot, or characters. I only own Edward and Brian.**

**Dedication: This story is dedicated to Cassidy Herrera, cuz I told you about this early on. Well, it's finally here.**

* * *

The Zenith Team.

Five young superheroes who fought to protect the world from evil.

Ace, Tsunami, Marksman, Boomer, and Ironfist.

Led by Captain Ace and her best friend Tsunami, the team saved many lives.

Oh, and with the help of their sidekick, Dr. Grant.

The government sought to enhance the team's powers using Gamma-13 radiation.

Ace got faster and stronger, Tsunami too became more powerful, but the Gamma turned her to the dark side.

She turned on her own team.

Ace lost her powers and her best friend.

* * *

It was dusk time, about the time where the sun is about to settle down behind the great rock walls. A helicopter flies through the area.

At first, it looks like the ordinary. But the distention was anything but normal. The helicopter flew through the vast mountains and towards a large mountain with a dome-like figure.

"Copter 9 to Motherbase, Copter 9 to Motherbase, over," a pilot said into his speaker.

"Motherbase to Copter 9, we hear you loud and clear, over," cracked a voice through the intercom. The first pilot nodded to the second one, then answered, "Permission to enter Area 52, over."

There was a slight pause before the cracking voice returned, "Permission granted, over."

Inside the base, a sergeant saluted to a scientist and said, "Sir, permission granted to enter! Began process to open gates!"

The scientist began to rapidly on the keyboard.

"Lowering cloaking shield." Another scientist pulled a huge leveler.

"Opening hanger doors."

A third scientist opened a case on the panel and pressed the button.

"Landing field set."

Moments later, a man in uniform along with two guards marched through the corriador.

A balding man walked up to the general and saluted. "Sir, our scientists have been tracking a pan-dimensional anomaly that seems to be moving towards their time-space continuum."

"I speak Greek, Dr. Grant, not Geek," the general growled as he marched over to the control center.

Dr. Grant sighed and said finally, "Tsunami is alive and returning. Right this very second."

"What?!" the general roared. "How long do we have?"

"Exactly 4 days and counting, sir."

The general stopped over to the computer. A picture of a smiling teenager was placed by the side.

He narrowed his eyes and commanded, "It's time to restart the Zenith Project."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This story is xover with Zoom's Academy for Superheroes.

The Silver Dragon.

This is where for the last twenty years Captain Ace has spent her life without powers.

Over the years, Ace, also known as Yan Lin, had grown isolated and bitter.

Now she was standing near the door, staring blankly at her index finger. She then narrowed her eyes and slowly started to move her finger back and forth. Then, its speed increased, moving faster and faster until it was nothing but a speeding blur.

The former superhero smiled fondly at the memories of her whole body moving at such speed. Nothing but a blur.

Something moved curiously in the corner of her eye.

Yan Lin turned around slightly to see a man in a leather jacket and sunglasses walking casually down the street, towards her restaurant.

He suddenly stopped, and put a hand to his ear. He quickly gazed left, then right, and started to cross the street.

A car suddenly jerked into the roadway, speeding down straight towards the man. The man however looked no notice of the approaching car.

Yan Lin swung the door open and called out, "Hey, watch out!"

By the time she finished her cry, the car knocked the man over, sending him falling down onto the pavement.

The car then sped away not bothering to stop.

Yan Lin jogged outside and stopped in front of the man, who was now beginning to struggle to his feet.

She leaned over and helped the more up and led him back to her restaurant.

"Hey, sir, you okay?" Yan Lin asked as she seated the man down.

The man played with his red hair and took off his sunglasses. "Thanks, Captain Ace."

Yan Lin blinked and took a step back. "What the—"

Just then, the car that had nearly ran over the man drove up, and two other men entered the restaurant.

One was in a lab coat while the other was in uniform.

Yan Lin groaned. "Dr. Grant. General. Good to see you two again."

"Enough talk, Yan," the general snapped. "We're taking you back to the Zenith Project."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Do you know what retirement means? I quit. I'm not a part of the Zenith team anymore. They were all wiped out . . . by your stupid Gamma-13 ray."

Dr. Grant then produced a gun. "I'm sorry to hear that, Ace."

The man in the leather jacket jumped on top of Dr. Grant. "Grant, no! Don't—"

Pop!

Yan Lin felt a small sting in her shoulder. She looked down and noticed the needle 'bullet' in her arm.

"Oh, that hurt," Yan Lin mumbled as things began to swirl. Then she fell to the ground, unconscious.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters nor the theme. This is an xover with Zoom's Academy for Superheroes. Cole Angelheart belongs to DREAMCOLE.

* * *

Will Vandom stared goofy-eyed at the huddle group on the football field. From her seat in the belchers, she could spot her crush's long, dark brown hair protruding out of his football helmet.

A small spark crackled through her red hair. Will brushed her bangs out of her face and watched as the huddle broke up, and the team got into position.

"Red 20!" her crush, Cole Angelheart, shouted through his mouth guard. "62! Blue 51! Hut, hut!"

The cheerleaders cheered on as Cole swiped the ball and tossed it to his teammate.

The opponents charged forward, slamming into everyone that got into their way. One jerk jumped up and tackled Cole to the ground.

Pop! Everyone paused and watched with great fascination as one of the headlights burned out loudly.

Pop! Pop! More headlights went out.

Will jerked her head just as all the lights suddenly made an ear-popping sounding, and the arena was shrouded in darkness.

Will groaned softly to herself and mumbled, "Not again."

* * *

Irma Lair's feet hit the pavement, her sneakers slapping the concrete. The music from her iPod blasted into her ears, muffling all other noises

Pumping her arms and legs in rhythmic pace, Irma jogged down the sidewalk.

Then, strangely enough, Irma felt like her feet were splashing into water. Irma stopped and pulled out her headphones.

Cautiously, she looked up at the sky. There wasn't a cloud up there, so raining didn't seem to be the option.

Then she looked behind her. Foot-size puddles were on the pavement, leading from the direction Irma came.

She looked at her feet.

From knee down, water dripped down and the soles and heels of her feet looked like solid water. Or rather, liquid water.

Irma grimaced.

* * *

Taranee glowered at her Bosun burner. Her dark eyebrows began to twitch, and the frown on her face deepened as she played with the knob, wishing it to turn on.

Taranee muttered a curse word under her breath. Her eyes flashed like fire, and within seconds of the flash, the burner mirrored her eyes, bursting into flames.

Taranee jerked back, nearly falling off her chair.

"Careful. You'll burn your nose off otherwise," warned her teacher who had happened to be walking by.

Taranee nodded, too stunned to respond.

* * *

Cornelia walked up to the lunch line, reaching out for a lunch tray . . . when a cheerleader bumped her arm aside and took the tray. "Oh, sorry, loser," the girl sneered, followed by her other peeps, both whom also seemed to have a distaste towards Cornelia. One of them even growled, "Freak," to her ear.

Temperature rising, Cornelia glowered at the meat sauce pasta that laid out, ready to take. In her mind, she imagined, no, wished that that sauce would just catapult into those slumballs' faces.

And just as the saying goes, "Be careful of what you wish for," Cornelia soon realized how right the saying was.

The sauce began to boil and turn, specks of it dotting the counter. The three cheerleaders ceased their chatter and looked, perplexed, at the sauce. Before another word could be said, however, the sauce exploded, sending brown chunks everywhere.

Cornelia ducked, covering her precious face with her hands. The cheerleaders screamed, hissing and bellowing and whining and cursing all the way.

It was then when the exploding sauce ceased, and Cornelia slowly look up, smiling at the now messy girls.

Whatever happened, Cornelia didn't mind it. She was actually rather glad.

* * *

Hay Lin rested her head on her desk, snoring softly as the teacher up in front drilled on and on and on about Einstein's mathematical genius.

Genius my butt, she thought sourly as the teacher droned on.

"Miss Lin?" he said, tapping his pointer on the desk.

Hay Lin lifted her head off the desk and grunted, "Hmm?"

"Since I obviously am boring you," he continued, "why don't you solve Einstein's equation for us?"

Hay Lin's face broke into a snobby smirk, and she replied, "Einstein can solve his own problem."

The class giggled and snickered around her, but the teacher cleared his throat loudly and said, "To the board, Miss Lin."

Hay Lin slipped out of her chair and casually walked up to the board she took the piece of chalk.

She began to write on the board, kids giggling and whispering in the background. Then, suddenly, the giggling stopped. No one was talking.

Hay Lin glanced over her shoulder, and in a sudden fate of chance, she looked into the mirror that was placed at the back of the room. Only there wasn't anything to look into. No one, except a floating piece of chalk, was there.

Slowly, Hay Lin reappeared, and she gave everyone a nervous smile.

* * *

Slowly, everything began to reconnect.

Yan Lin shook the fuzziness out of her head and looked up.

"Oh, no," she moaned.

"Afternoon, Captain Ace," Dr. Grant chirped. "Welcome back to the Zenith Project."

"No, no, no!" Yan Lin said. She sat herself up and stood on whobbly legs. "Not welcome back! I told you clowns before, I quit. And quit calling me Ace! I hung up my cape long ago."

"But, Ace," a man said, "you were apart of the Zenith team! You're legendary!"

"Who is this?" Yan Lin demanded, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the man.

"That's Dr. Stag," Dr. Grant said, smiling. "He's helping us with our new Zenith team. And you're here," he handed Yan Lin a clipboard, "to help select the new team."

"No, I'm not." Yan Lin tossed the clipboard over her shoulder. "I said I quit. You can zap the kids for all I care, but I'm not going to be a part of it."

"B-but, Captain Ace!" Dr. Stag stuttered. "You're our only hope. She's coming back."

Yan Lin stopped and turned to face the man. "Who are you, and what do you mean, 'she's coming back?'"

The man and the doctor glanced at each other, looking slightly reluctant to share the information.

Finally, the man said, "Well, you know who."

Yan Lin shook her head firmly and set her jaw into a stern line. "No, I don't. Tell me now, or I'm going to blow this joint."

"It's Tsunami," the general snapped, marching in. "She's coming back, in three to four days time."

"What?" Yan Lin took a staggering step back.

"Ace," the man said. "She's coming back for you."

Yan Lin's eyes became as wide as dinner plates. With sweat on her brow, she clapped her hands together and said in a not-so-chirper way, "Well, where are those lucky kids?"


	4. Chapter 4

Yan Lin slumped into her chair and groaned.

"You okay, Ace?" Dr. Grant asked.

"Do I look okay?" snorted the former superhero.

Dr. Grant shrugged his shoulders and sat down. He gestured toward the guards, who walked to a pair of large doors. One of the guards opened them, and said something to whoever was on the other side. Slowly, one by one, teens, all around the same age, made their way into the room. Each sat down on, waiting to be called up for testing.

Yan Lin scanned each face of the waiting 'heroes-to-be'. Really, in a way she felt sorry for them, but then again, she also found herself disliking them more as she looked at them. Then her heart just stopped in her chest. Oh no, she thought, her eyes pausing at another Asian girl, one with long hair tied to in distinct pigtails. Both Asians made eye-contact, and looks they exchanged were less than friendly.

Dr. Grant stood up suddenly, booming out to the small batch of kids, "Alright, kids. Come up to the front and show us what you've got. Remember, only a few of you will be selected, so break a leg!"

"Just don't break your collar bone," Yan Lin murmured under her breath.

The contest wasn't as boring as Yan Lin credited it to be. It was actually . . . just plain annoying.

One kid tried to impress the judges with her 'gift' of blinking really fast. The only thing it did to Yan Lin was give her a headache.

The next kid thought it would be funny to spit out paper spit wods like bullets. That just plain rude, but thankfully Yan Lin had enough sense to duck before the paper bullets met their mark.

The next one, however, slightly caught her attention.

A redhead had stood before them, and when Dr. Grant gestured for her to act, lightning began to spark across the room. The woman's hands trembled a bit as she vagely remembered a friend of hers who had that same power. But she quickly pushed it out of her mind. Dr. Grant was grinning ear-to-ear as he stamped the redhead's report with green letters saying 'APPROVED.'

Next in line was something to behold. When Yan Lin thought she would end up laughing her head off again of the blonde's insisting her power was to cheer, and she was a cheerleader, finally getting her mad enough to lift the table with her mind.

Her report got stamped 'APPROVED.'

The next kid . . . urgh, his 'power' was too repulsive to even describe on paper or Internet. His report's only stamp was 'DENIED' forty seven times.

A brunette came up and lifted the water out of Yan Lin's glass without even touching it. She nodded to Dr. Grant, who stamped her report with 'APPROVED.'

Another joke of a kid came up, deministering his power of blowing up a giant, gross, green booger. And then having it explode. Good thing Yan Lin had extra clothes in her room.

A shy African girl came up, not wanting to meet anyone in the eye. Yan Lin, feeling rather impatient and uncaring of how the girl might being feeling right now, said, "So, is your power so strong that you can't even look at us?" And it wasn't just said in a mean way. It sounded mean, too. Feeling pushed to use her power, her eyes lit up and the paperwork caught on fire. Dr. Grant and the other judge worked on putting the fire out while Yan Lin gasped in awe, "You pass."

Now, now this was the one that Yan Lin wished she had the power of invisibility. Of course, ironicily, the next contestant had that very power. But Yan Lin knew as soon as she caught sight of the girl, her life was over.

It was none other than Hay Lin, her niece who made it her life's propose to make Yan Lin miserable. And boy, was she good at it. When Hay Lin demonstrated her power of invisibility, she walked to the desk unseen and slapped Yan Lin three times on the back of the head, at different times. It took all of security to relocate her, and it was just the Lin's luck that Dr. Stag had a spray paint can handy (though why he had one in the first place remained questionable).

Now, with five girls chosen to became the new Zenith team, Yan Lin had a very sick feeling in her stomach.

She slowly walked through the hallways, on her way to 'meet the new team and get to know them better', or as Dr. Stag happily put it.

However, Yan Lin took her sweet time getting to the classroom where the kids would be studying school based stuff (hey, while here, they couldn't get in trouble with the government and skip school), traveling back down the most hatred yet beloved memory lane. Here, she and her team made history. And it was also here where she betrayed them all.

Yan Lin stopped in front of the Gamma 13 ray gun. Memories of darkness and betrayal entered her mind, but she shook them away, not wanting to think of them ever again, especially once this was all over.

Dr. Stag was waiting in front of the classroom door when Yan Lin finally arrived. Eagerly, he rushed over to her with glittering eyes and breathed, "Are you excited, Captain Ace? We have the new Zenith team, and now there's nothing to worry about of Tsunami's attack. With you and them, nothing can hurt us."

"I wouldn't go that far, Doc," Yan Lin grumbled bitterly. Glancing at the kids in the room, she said in a hush voice, "Hey, the general doesn't plan on . . . you know, gamma 13 radiating them?"

"Oh no!" Dr. Stag stated sternly, shaking his head. "After what happened to Tsunami, well, we can't afford another incident like that. We'll do this the old fashion way, healthy and natural."

"What's natural about mutant kids?" Yan Lin muttered under her breath, but Dr. Stag didn't seem to catch that statement, as he opened the door and said, "Come on. Time to meet the team."

The two walked in, and the chattering stopped the moment the two stepped in. Hay Lin and Yan Lin made eye-contact again, and the two Asian descendants glared darkly at each other before Dr. Stag said to the whole Zenith team, "Kids, this is Captain Ace, the leader of the first Zenith team."

"Former captain of the depatched Zenith team," Yan Lin corrected. "I'm retired now."

Hay Lin made a loud snorting noise, and Yan Lin made a, 'I'm watching you,' sign with her fingers. Hay Lin shrugged in return, silently stating, 'I don't care,' sign.

"Right," Dr. Stag said, clapping his hands. "But she's come back to help train you all so you can get better at your powers."

"And then the government will juice up with Gamma 13 radiation so you can all go crazy and lose either your life, friends, or powers, or if you're lucky enough, all three at once. So just kiss your social life buh-bye."

Dr. Stag glared at Yan Lin before saying, "Ace's just joking, kids. The Zenith Project will never make that mistake again, I can assure you."

"Remember," Yan Lin said, leaning over and pretending to whisper, "this is the government talking. When have they ever told the truth?"

There was snickering in the room, and Dr. Stag again glared at Yan Lin. The Asian merely shrugged her shoulders. Again, addressing the class of five, Dr. Stag continued, "So, I hope you enjoy your time here working with me and Ace, and we shall begin your training tomorrow. You are dismissed."

The kids slowly got up, all exiting the room muttering to themselves and giggling as they passed Yan Lin and Dr. Stag. Hay Lin paused only to make a rude face and . . . uh, gesture to her aunt before leaving with the others. Yan Lin growled, "Oh, I'm gonna get her . . ."

"Captain Ace," Dr. Stag said sternly, hands on his hips, frowning like a school maron, "how could you say all those things. They aren't true."

"Hey, pal," Yan Lin said pointedly, beginning to turn around and leave, "it's time to wake up and smell the coffee. If you lived the life I did, you'd know exactly what I met by those things. They're all true. Every last one of them. And I'm living proof of it. And so's Tsunami, for that matter." She grabbed her bag and tossed it onto her shoulder, opening the door as she did. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she stepped out the room and left Dr. Stag to his own thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, let's get this show started," Yan Lin said, clapping her hands. "Let's see what you all can do."

Training was basic work, each girl following through and carefully using their powers. Will, that was the redhead's name, jolted lightning bolts all over the place, almost blowing up the containment unit in the process. Irma, the brunette, threw water around, retraining full control of it. Taranee, the African American, created fire in midair, holding it in the palm of her hand without so much as flinching. Cornelia, the blond cheerleader, had telekinesis, throwing objects around with her mind. And of course, Hay Lin was last in the inspection list, disappearing before everyone's eyes. And then the scientists had to come in and try to locate her.

Yan Lin, staring out of the window of the upper floor, sighed. "Looks like they lost her again."

Dr. Grant groaned in frustration. "This is not working. That kid just keeps disappearing every time. It's really getting to me." He looked at Yan Lin, his face serious. "Kind of like you when you were around her age."

"That's probably because we're related," Yan Lin stated, rolling her eyes.

Dr. Grant blinked. "You are?"

"Of course," Yan Lin snapped, her face disgusted. "Why else would we have the same last name and look and think alike? You think it's random?"

Dr. Grant shrugged. "Could be."

Just then Dr. Stag stepped in, rushing forward to meet with Dr. Grant and Yan Lin. "Captain Ace, Dr. Grant. We found Hay Lin and are putting her in a containment unit."

Dr. Grant clapped his hands. "Excellent. Now, if you're excuse me, I need to take a well-deserved nap. We have a lot of things to do, so once Hay Lin's cooled down a bit, we can continue."

Once he was gone, Dr. Stag turned to Yan Lin, a deep frown on his face. "Captain Ace," he began, but Yan Lin rudely interrupted, "I'm not Captain Ace anymore. I'm just Yan Lin. Can't you just understand that?"

"Fine, Yan Lin," Dr. Stag said, sharply emphasizing her name. "What happened to you? A long time ago, you were one of the greatest superheroes ever. Whatever happened to 'Faster than fast. Truer than true. In the pursuit of justice there is no speed limit'?"

"Like you said," Yan Lin stated calmly, "that was a long time ago. Things change. People grow up."

"Yeah, but changing and growing up into a heartless old bag?"

"I lived life, okay?!" Yan Lin's dark eyes flashed. "Look, Dr. Stag, you have no idea what I went through. Do you think I enjoy watching a bunch of kids going through the same thing I went through? Do they even know who they're up against?"

Dr. Stag opened and closed his mouth multiple times, but not once did a word come out. Yan Lin sighed and shook her head. "See, this is what I'm talking about. Now I don't know about you, but I'm through pretending. There is no hope that these . . . these brats can defeat Tsunami! I ended up losing my powers thanks to her! And it was no thanks to this government that it happened. If those stupid military generals had just kept their nose out of the Zenith team, we would have never come to this. So there."

With that, Yan Lin marched off.

Before reaching out of hearing range, Dr. Stag called, "I still believe there's a hero inside of you, Yan Lin! And please, call me Brian!"

Yan Lin rolled her eyes and stormed off.

* * *

Taranee was never sure about herself unless in a classroom. So when she was asked to come with a bunch of men dressed in black from the government, she became very paranoid. Now, sitting in her 'containment unit for sleeping', aka, her temporarily bedroom, she was slowly beginning to think that she wasn't in trouble.

The strange feeling she got when scienitists would "ooh," and "aah," at her ability to manipulate fire made her feel almost special.

She moved down the hallway, with a book in front of her, not realizing that, the further she walked, the bigger trouble she was going to get into.

And by trouble, I mean Cornelia Hale trouble.

It happened in probably three seconds. Then the two were looking at each other, or rather, Cornelia was glaring and Taranee was shaking.

"Don't you ever watch where you're going?" Cornelia pointed at her face. "Look at what you made me do! Now I have to start all over again!"

Taranee saw how some of Cornelia's carefully done make-up had indeed been ruined, smudging here and there. Taranee took a few steps back and stuttered, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"Didn't mean to?! Do you know how long it took me to make it look good?"

"She said sorry, Corny," a voice interrupted rudely. Irma stepped out from her containment and glared at the blond. "Leave her alone already."

"Huh." Cornelia crossed her arms over her chest in frustration. "Saying sorry doesn't fix my make-up."

"Well, what do you want her to do?" Irma demanded, throwing her hands up in the air. "Do the make-up for you?"

"No, I—"

"Hey, will you two chill out? Some people are trying to get some shut eye over here!"

Cornelia, Irma, and Taranee turned to see Hay Lin walk groggily out of her room, a not-so-happy look on her face. She gave a once-over to the three, before grunting submissively, "Whatever. It's probably not even worth my time anyway."

"What do you mean, 'not even worth your time'?" Irma demanded loudly. "Taranee here is getting picked on and you don't care?!"

"It's none of my business."

Taranee bit her lower lip, slowly moving away from the arguing superheroes to be. All she wanted to do now was get out of here before a full-fledged war, something she did not want to be a part of.

But while in the midst of her sneaking away, she failed to detect the redhead, Will, until, like with Cornelia, she bumped into her. Taranee jerked back fearfully, bowing her head low and squeaking, "I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

"Relax, girl!" Will laughed, smiling widely. Taranee looked up, surprised and slightly taken a back by her good nature, and watched numbly as she made her way toward the arguing three.

"Hey there," Will said calmly. "What's the deal, yo? You guys are really disturbing the peace here."

"Well, sorry," Cornelia snorted rudely, "but I don't see a sign saying, 'Keep the peace'."

Will smiled sweetly and said, "Well, you're right there. There isn't a sign that says, 'Keep the peace'. But there is something pretty close." Then she pointed at a nearby sign, saying, "Please keep voices in indoor tones."

"Oh." Both Irma and Cornelia blushed in embarrassed, both slightly taken aback by the sign that hang before them. Hay Lin merely smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Will turned around again, making her way to her room. "Come on, guys. Let's get some shut eye. It's a big day tomorrow."

Moaning and sighing, the girls dispatched and moved toward their containment units, sliding the doors shut and flickering the lights off.

It was probably several hours later before Taranee felt someone nudging her shoulder impatiently, a voice breaking through her cloud of dreams. "Hey, fire girl, you up?"

"Mmm?" Taranee turned to look over her shoulder. Much to her surprise it was Hay Lin, a look of slight impatience on her face. "Come on, come on. We don't have all night."

"What's going down?" Taranee mumbled, rubbing sand dust out of her eyes. Hay Lin glanced over her shoulder with a smirk. "You mean you don't know? We're exploring this base."

"But isn't that against the rules?" Taranee swung her legs out, pressing her bare feet on the cold floor.

"Duh." Hay Lin smiled darkly. "That's why we're going exploring. Besides, we're going to need your help with something anyway."

Taranee watched silently as Hay Lin exited the room. There was a looming silence, one that made the African American girl very uncomfortable until once more Hay Lin entered her living space by sticking her head in and snapping, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get a move on, slowpoke!"

"Huh?" Taranee blinked out of her trance, standing up. "R-right. Hang on!"

Once she and the Asian girl had traveled some through the confusing hallways of the underground base, they met up with the other three, all whom where standing in front of a steel door.

"Why won't this thing open!?" Irma shouted, banging on the door with her fists. Cornelia dope slapped her, snapping, "Hey, do you want to wake up the whole base?"

Irma frowned, but didn't respond.

Hay Lin pressed her palms up against the thick metal barricade, leaning forward to press her ear up against the cold metal. When she heard no noises, she looked towards Taranee, her dark, almond eyes mischievous. At first Taranee didn't understand the meaning of the look, because she pointed questionably at herself, her eyebrows arched. Hay Lin smiled, nodding, glancing back and forth between Taranee and Taranee's hand. When the fire girl finally got wind of the idea the Lin had, she shook her hands and head. "O-oh, no! I'm not getting involved into any of this!"

"Oh well then," Hay Lin said, turning to face the long, echoing hallway. "Then I guess I'll just have to scream."

"You dummy," Cornelia snapped. "Then we'll all get caught."

"You mean you will get caught," Hay Lin corrected. "I'll just turn invisible."

"Okay, okay!" Taranee exclaimed, waving her hands again. "I'll open the door."

Smiling victoriously, Hay Lin side-stepped to allow the ladder access to the door. Taranee placed her warming hands to the cold metal, and as soon as they made contact, a loud fizzing noise came out. Taranee pressed her palms further into the metal, smoke rising up as the heat ate away at the metal. Finally, it was to the point where it had become a large enough entrance for a grown man to enter. Hay Lin stepped through, ducking to dodge the cooling edges, and smiled as she crossed her arms over her chest, satisfied. "Well, well. Would you look at this?"

The others entered in with caution, then stood gaping as their eyes rested upon a huge, silver, flying saucer, like the ones that come from alien movies.

Irma laughed and punched both fists into the air. "Oh, yeah! I knew there'd be cool stuff here! A spaceship, wowee!"

Buzz-buzz!

Just then, a little robot zoomed in from behind the spaceship, its eyes blinking, nearly blinding the girls.

Hay Lin watched as the little bot halted in front of them, examining their faces with its lenses. She crouched down and murmured, "Wow, a robot. A real life robot. And it's not those fake toy robots you find in stores. This one . . ."

"His name is Mr. Pibb. He was our only friend back when I was with the Zenith Team." The voice was so sudden it startled the kids right out of their socks. They all whirled around to see Captain Ace, or rather Yan Lin as she preferred now, standing in front of the doorway.

"Why was he your only friend?" Cornelia asked, glancing between Yan Lin and the robot.

"Well," Yan Lin started as she approached the gang, "being a superhero meant we had to keep our identities secret, our powers in check, and our bodies fit. With a schedule like that, we didn't have time to interact with anyone but the scientists here at the Zenith Project. And don't get me started on how 'engaging' their conversations were." She smirked, crouching down in front of the robot, which was buzzing and beeping affectionately at her. "It was about as exciting and interesting as watching paint dry."

Hay Lin snickered, smirking as well. Yan Lin continued, taking Hay Lin's laughing as encouragement. "With that, they made us Mr. Pibb. We did a lot of crazy things back then. Man, I can't remember how many times we got into trouble together."

Mr. Pibb beeped loudly, and Yan Lin jerked back, looking innocent. "What do you mean, 'I got into trouble'? Hey, don't forget most of the time it was—" Yan Lin suddenly dropped the subject, her face in a twist of pain. "Never mind," she muttered, standing up. Mr. Pibb buzzed sadly, lowering its head. The woman's face cracked a weak smile as she said, "Don't worry. It's not your fault."

Facing the spaceship, she placed her hands on her hips and glanced at the girls. "So, I see you found our mode of transportation."

"This is the spaceship from Area 61!" Taranee laughed. "It does exist!"

"This is what you used to get around?" Irma asked. "Looks like a flying saucer."

"Guess the guys had a lot of imagination and too much time, huh? It's called the FE-12, but we've never really paid attention to fancy names like that."

"Can we fly this?" Will asked.

Yan Lin smirked, looking over her shoulder at the redhead. "Why not? This place can get cramped anyway."

After opening the hanger door and entering the ship, with Mr. Pibb tagging along, Will then asked, "Hey, Captain Ace . . ."

"Yan Lin," the woman corrected.

Will cleared her throat. "Right, Yan Lin. Um, how did you know we were in here?"

"I heard you kids blabbering in the hall."

"Oh." Will's face got red suddenly. "You heard us?"

"It's not hard. 'Specially since my room was right next to this place."

"Oh," Will said again, not meaning to.

In the main room, Irma rushed up to the large chair in front of the 'controls'. "Uhhh," she said, once seated, "how do you drive one of these things?" She gestured helplessly at the two things in front of the chair. They looked like tubes filled with green (left) and blue (right) jelly. The tubes were large enough to fit a medium size log in forward.

Yan Lin stepped over to the chair and gestured with her hand. "Move aside. I'll show you."

Irma left the chair and Yan Lin sat in her place. "Alrighty then. Let's see if I can remember." She slowly placed each arm into the jelly tubes, wincing slightly as it made puddy noises. "Argh, this always grossed me. That's why Boomer always drove. He didn't mind the slim."

"Ewww," Cornelia groaned. "Whose idea was that?"

"Huh," Taranee questioned, "how do you drive with jelly?"

"I'll show you," Yan Lin stated. She twisted her arms in the jelly-like substations, and the ship vibrated. Slowly, a deep humming came from the ship, and it rocked up, shaking everyone to their seats. Yan Lin then hollered over the noise, "Oh, don't forget to sit down. The lift-offs and landings are always shaky."

"Thanks for the warning!" Cornelia shouted sarcastically.

And then they were off. Cruising through the air like an eagle, Yan Lin smiled proudly as she steered it like second nature. "Here we go. How's the view?"

"It's awesome!!!" Will exclaimed, looking out the window.

"Wowee, look at the size of those mountains!" Hay Lin gasped. "I've never seen ones that big!"

"Oh, please," Cornelia snorted. "Ever seen the Grand Canyon? Now that's big?"

"It's nothing like China's mountains, though," Yan Lin pointed out. "Now those things were monstrous. They made the Grand Canyon look like a couple of hills."

"Can this go any faster?" Hay Lin asked.

"There's the thing with the FE-12," Yan Lin sighed. "We never could really figure it out. We crashed it in the late 50's, and now we're lucky enough to get it moving again."

"Hey, I wanna drive!" Irma said, jumping up and down behind Yan Lin. The older woman glanced once at the jumping girl, sighed, and slipped out of the seat. "Okay, you have a go."

Irma squealed with joy and jumped right into the seat, jabbed her hands into the jelly, vaguely listening to Yan Lin as she advice, "Okay, now green is left and blue is right. So when you want to turn right, you—" The ship jerked to the left, then to the right, then up, and finally down. Irma's eyes were wide as the others jerked around like ping-pong balls, screaming and squealing as they flipped over. Yan Lin held on to the back of the chair and snapped, "Do you even know what you're doing?!"

"Uhh . . ." Irma glanced nervously at the controls. "I guess it looked easier than it really was."

"You think?" Will grumbled as she struggled back to her feet. After a while, Irma finally got a hang of flying—sort of.

But an interesting thing happened while flying. When they were over a field of cows, Irma thought it would be funny to "abduct" a cow for sport. After hovering the cow up, Yan Lin said with a tone of irritation, "Irma, put the cow back."

Irma groaned loudly, but complied, and dropped the cow back . . . upside down. After that, it was clear that Irma would be fooling around more than anything, so Yan Lin once more took the . . . "slime". No one said anything while this part of the ride was taking place, until Will caught sight of an approaching Wendy's. "Huh, Miss Yan Lin?"

"Hmm?"

"Is there a reason why that Wendy's over there is getting bigger?"

"Because we're flying towards it."

"Oh."

Once the ship got within the proper distance between the space and the speaker. A cheerful voice said, "Hi, welcome to Wendy's. May I take your order, please?"

"What you guys like?"

Everyone started rumbling off something they wanted to eat. Yan Lin waved her arms, trying to calm everyone down, and also repeating what she could manage to hear. "Okay," she said, gasping, "is that all?"

"Six Frosties," Irma said.

"Yay!" Hay Lin cheered.

"Okay," Yan Lin said, repeating the order.

"Great." Irma looked questionable at the others. "So what are you guys getting?"

Everyone gave her the "what-in-the-world-are-you-talking-about-are-you-serious" look. So she dropped the subject.

Once they reached the check-out window, after crashing it once and struggling to get it back in the air. Mr. Pibb stretched out his mechanical arms and grabbed the meals and drinks. Unable to resist the urge after seeing the shocked look on the old man's face who was at the window, Hay Lin said, "We come in peace."

After getting the food on, Yan Lin drove the ship out and back into the sky. Of course, none of them heard the old man at the window put a hand to his chest and croak, "Take me with you."


	6. Chapter 6

Yan Lin laughed, watching Mr. Pibb zoom through the hallways with excitement. "Good to see you're back, too, Pibb," she said.

Irma, mid-way through her cheeseburger, said, "Hey, Yan Lin, you think the dudes here will know we took that joy ride with the FE-12?"

"Probably, because seeing a spaceship flying through a Wendy's and picking up food will tip them off—"

"Yan Lin!"

"I knew it," Yan Lin sighed.

Dr. Stag, Brian, and Dr. Grant rushed over to the team, angry frowns on their faces. "What do you think you're doing, taking the FE-12 on some little joy ride?!" Brian exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

Yan Lin waved her hands in front of her, a "calm-down" hand sign. "Okay, chill, doc. No one got hurt. So there shouldn't be any concern towards this subject."

"Not so, Miss Lin!" Brian snapped. "Your little stunt got put on the news, and now everyone thinks there are aliens out there, who use ice cream to fuel their ships!"

Hay Lin burst out laughing, nearly choking on her Frosty. "Is that what they think? Frosty fueled ships?"

"Next thing they'll say is that airplanes will run on gingerbread men," Irma hooted.

Yan Lin grinned, shrugging her shoulders. "They do have a point. Let's just let this die down until the time is right, okay?"

Brian huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

* * *

Dr. Grant bit his lip, shaking his head grimly. "Only two more days before Tsunami reaches us."

"Doctor Grant," the general barked, wearing his typical frown on his face, "do you think those kids will be ready by that time?"

Dr. Grant shrugged his shoulders. "I can't really say. But the progress they're making, I only see a grim future."

* * *

Yan Lin hassled after Brian, quickly catching up to him. While Brian tried to lose Yan Lin, he overdid it and fell literally over a desk. His folders and papers fell out of his hands, spattering on the floor. He rolled off his back where he landed and began to gather his papers and placing them on the desk.

Yan Lin, to buy herself time to talk, crouched down, doing the opposite by taking the paper and placing back on the ground, although still in neat stacks. "Brian, listen to me. These are teens we're talking about here. They don't know how much is at stake here. Keeping them in the dark about fighting Tsunami isn't going to help them in their training."

"Well, putting pressure on them isn't healthy either," Brian stated, putting more papers on the desk.

"Yes, but they have the right to know," Yan Lin insisted, moving papers back to the floor.

Brian slapped the ground and snapped, "Can you stop now?"

Yan Lin halted in her movement, allowing Brian to pick up the papers. "Look, I'm just saying we should tell them. Then they'll take training more seriously."

"Like the way they behaved today with the news? Yeah, that was taking it seriously."

"They're teenagers. You're training them to save the world, and they don't even know what for. You can't treat them like little kids."

Brian sighed, standing up and holding the papers to his side. "Yan Lin, I understand your concern, but we can't have them knowing what's at stake. Research indicates that—"

"Heck with research!" Yan Lin exclaimed. "Research said that the radiation wouldn't mess up our minds, and look what it did to Tsunami! You've got to stop relying on research!"

"And you, Miss. Lin," Brian said, turning away, "got to stop living in the past." He walked away, leaving Yan Lin behind.

* * *

Cornelia paused, looking down a hallway where a window was. There was a lot of windows in the base, but most where dark, not lightened up like as if the sun was shining through them. She stepped around a bit, trying to get a peek at where the light was coming from when she saw Dr. Grant inside a make-shift garden, watering the plants. Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin, who were with her at the time, were all looking curiously at a panel in front of the 'greenhouse'.

Cornelia peeked over Taranee's shoulder and noticed the buttons. Above them was a sign that read, "Do not press; operates Outdoor Survival Simulator." She glanced curiously at Irma, who smirked when they made eye-contact. The brunette then glanced at the panel, switching back to Cornelia's eyes and waggling her eyebrows slyly. She pressed a button with a lock on it, which triggered an automatic door to close behind Dr. Grant. Grant stood up, and panicked as he saw his only escape closing before him. He rushed over to the door, but it slammed shut right as soon as he got there. He turned around, looking very frustrated, when he spotted the girls. He gave them a friendly wave and smile, saying in a muffled voice, "Hey, girls. Mind opening the door for me?"

Irma giggled, covering her mouth with her hand as she moved her finger to another button, this one having a dark cloud with a lightning bolt under it. Immediately the 'sunlight' disappeared, and rain began to pour on top of Grant's head, the only traces of light inside the room coming from the 'lighting and thunder'.

Hay Lin laughed, reaching over and pressing another button, one with just a lightning bolt symbol on it. Grant waved his hands in panic, hollering, "No, don't!"

Too late, as a bolt of real lightning jolted from the ceiling and struck poor Dr. Grant.

_(A/N: Kids, do not try this at home. Lightning can kill you, if it doesn't ruin your life temporarily or permanently.)_

Taranee and Cornelia burst out laughing as Dr. Grant, now looking all charred up, stared with a dazed expression on his wrinkled face. Irma hooted, reaching over and pressing another button. Dr. Grant had the time to recover just in time to look up and see snow fall on top of him. Everyone burst out laughing on the other side, finding this extremely amusing.

Hay Lin, still giggling madly, pressed a button with a tornado symbol on it. Just then, a wall of spiraling wind came and picked up all the snow, including Dr. Grant, and spiraled all around the room. Hay Lin and Irma, now crying as they laughed, backed off, unable to stand up straight because of the hysterical situation.

_(A/N: Kids, again, do not try any of this at home. These events can and mostly likely will kill you. Please ask for adult supervisions if you wish to try any of these, :p)_

Cornelia grinned at Taranee, and for once the cautious, shy girl compelled with her own grin. The blond reached forward and pressed a button with rocks on it, and the tornado stopped.

Dr. Grant, spinning in place, gasped and screamed as rocks rolled over him. Taranee laughed, looking around the panel for any buttons not yet pressed.

Then she discovered one.

When Dr. Grant finally came to, he noticed a black and white striped critter in front of him, its bushy tail turned toward him.

Then realization came to him.

But only as soon as the tail came up and sprayed stinky gases on him.

* * *

Will stared up at the large ray gun in the center of the room. The sliding door behind her slide open, and she turned around to see Yan Lin, looking as grim as ever, walk in. Nodding in acknowledgement, the older woman rested her elbows on the railing in front of her, staring blankly at the machine.

"So, this," Will said, breaking the silence, "is that gun everyone was talking about."

"Yep," Yan Lin said bitterly. "The cause of all our problems."

Will nodded slowly, looking at her before looking back at the Gamma-13 ray gun. Suddenly, her head began to spin again, like what it's been doing for the last half hour.

"Ow," the redhead murmured, rubbing her scalp.

Yan Lin tilted her head at the girl, curiosity in her eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"My head's been killing me lately," Will explained. "It just started out as little headaches, then they kept getting wrong until now it feels like my head's going to explode."

Yan Lin stared up at the raygun once more before asking, "Did you notice you can do anything different, like hear people's thoughts, or see the future?"

"No . . ." Will groaned. "The only thing that I get is pain." She hesitated, quickly added, "That and seeing things that aren't there."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. For instance, I saw Dr. Grant walking into a forest-filled room with a gardener's hat on."

"Oh." Yan Lin looked at Will, not unkindly. "You must have the ability we called, 'Mind-sight'."

Will arched an eyebrow. "Mind sight? What's that?"

"It's when you can see things going on at that very moment somewhere else."

"Oh." Will blinked in confusion and blurted out, "Hey, how did you know what it is exactly."

"A teammate of mind had it."

"Uh-huh." Will paused, looking at the ground before asking, "And which one of the old team had the mind-sight thing like me?"

"Oh, Marksman."

"Marksman," Will repeated. "And what happened to him? And your boyfriend, Boomer?"

Yan Lin sighed heavily. "They all lost their lives doing what they do, being heroes."

Will turned her body to face Yan Lin, brown eyes glittering with curiosity. "So this killer, Tsunami . . . I though that was all made up."

Yan Lin admitted, "Some of it was made up."

"So this maniac wiped out the whole team?" Will asked.

This obviously ticked Yan Lin off, because next she suddenly snapped, "It really wasn't her fault. I mean, they made her into that."

Will arched her eyebrows up. "She was part of the team? And you trust her? She was your teammate and she . . ."

Yan Lin interrupted, "You don't know what you're talking about, okay?"

Realization suddenly came to Will. "Tsunami was your best friend."

Yan Lin sighed, her face full of agony and grief. Finally, she turned to face Will.

"Her name was Cassidy."


	7. Chapter 7

Brian whistled to himself a little tune as he carried his mug with him down the hall, heading toward Dr. Grant for a planned meeting. However, as he approached the steel door, he overheard voices inside. Not to be rude, he removed his hand from the door handle. Just when he was about to turn around and leave, he heard a stomp of a booted foot and a familiar yelp, most likely coming from Dr. Grant. Then a voice, muffled through the steel, snapped, "Grant, these kids are not improving! Tomorrow is the day, and they're not ready for it."

"Now, now, General," another voice replied gently, obviously filled with fear, "I'm sure we can come up with something other than—"

"Grant, we've got no choice! It's either them or us. Congress is concerned that the Zenith Project will fail again, and the President does not want to have a super-powered freak walking up his doorstep. It's my duty to protect this nation, and I'm going to do it, even if it means sacrificing a bunch of snot-nosed kids and an old hag!"

"B-but Ace, uh, Yan Lin, doesn't have any powers anymore! How can she—"

"Tsunami is after her, you nitwit! She'll be the bait."

"But what if the kids become—"

"Then we'll dispatch of them along with Tsunami."

Brian gasped, staggering back from the door. The general was planning on radiating the girls?! And forcing Yan Lin to fight?! How could he do that?!

Not even giving a second thought, he rushed away, sprinting towards Yan Lin's quarters and the girls'. Hopefully, he'll make it in time.

. . . However, he dropped his mug on the way.

* * *

Knock, knock. "Psst, Yan Lin!"

Yan Lin groaned, rolling over in the covers. The knocking continued however, and again she heard someone whisper, "Yan Lin! Please open the door!"

Yan Lin groaned again, rolled out of bed and sluggishly made her way to the door. As soon as she opened it, however, the person on the other side catapulted in, as if avoiding being attacked or something.

The man who had bolted in stumbled back to Yan Lin, gasping, "Yan Lin! There's trouble . . ."

"Whoa, whoa! Hold it!" Yan Lin guided the man to the table. "What's going on?"

"Yan Lin," the man insisted. Yan Lin leaned back and flipped on the light. When she turned to face the man again, she was surprised to see it was Brian. "Brian! What are you doing here?"

"I'm here . . ." Brian struggled, "to tell you something . . ."

"What?" Yan Lin grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook them. "What is it? Is it about the girls?"

"They're planning . . ." he gasped, still trying to catch his breath, "to use the Gamma 13 ray on them."

Yan Lin jerked herself back, as if she had been shocked. The two made eye-contact with each other, silently transmitting their fears back and forth.

* * *

The light in Will's room flickered on, tearing her out of her sleep. She groaned, burying her face deeper into her pillow. A hand reached out of nowhere and shook her shoulder hard and rapidly. "Hey, come on. Wake up."

Will moaned and rolled onto her back. "What?" she mumbled, cracking her eyes open slightly.

A hand patted her shoulder again, and she could make out a silhouette moving around in the bright light. "Come on, Will. We don't have time to snooze."

"Miss Lin?" Will slurred, shading her eyes from the bright light. She saw the woman bob her head up and down, a gesture translated as a nod. Will threw hr covers off and swung her legs out. She noticed Yan Lin had already packed her things. "Are we going somewhere?"

"You could say that," Yan Lin replied, placing Will's bags in front of the door. "Now, come on. You need to get dressed and help me wake the others. We don't have much time."

"Wait, what's going on?" Will asked, standing up and grabbing the Zenith project uniform off a chair. Yan Lin, midway out of the room, ducked her head in and said, "Look, I've got no time to explain now. I'll tell you all what's going on later, when we're safe."

"Safe? But what's that suppose to—" But Yan Lin had already departed, leaving a bewildered Will in her wake. The redhead finally landed on the conclusion, once Yan Lin had called her again, that now was not the time to question or try to make sense of things. She got dressed, grabbed her bags, and ran out to help Yan Lin. Once the two had woken and gathered the rest of the girls, Yan Lin led them all to a small, winding hall behind some pipes. Most likely it was the furnace hallway. Yan Lin stopped, turning to face the girls. "Okay, you're all probably have some questions, and you want answers. So I'll do my best to answer them. One, this place here is safe. It used to be an old meeting place of ours back when I still had a team. Two, why you're being brought to a safe place, and why I woke you all up in the middle of the night is because the Zenith Project is planning on using the gamma ray on you—"

"What?" Cornelia gasped. "They can't do that! They signed a contract with my parents. It's a—"

"They're the government, Corny," Irma said. "They can do whatever they want."

"And!" Yan Lin said sharply, interrupting the growing murmurs. "And third, the Zenith Project revival was done for one reason and one reason only: to defeat the coming threat of Tsunami."

"So she's coming back?" Will said. Everyone turned to face her, giving her questioning looks, so she repeated a bit louder, "Tsunami. She's coming back, right?"

Yan Lin bit her lower lip, but sighed and nodded. "Yeah, she's coming back."

"What about Brian?" Taranee asked quietly. "And Dr. Grant. Aren't they going to—"

"Brian's the one who warned me," Yan Lin interrupted. "He's right working on a way to distract the Zenith project while we escape. And Dr. Grant?" She shrugged. "That old geezer couldn't find his way out of a paper bag, much less help us get away."

"So what are we going to do?" Cornelia demanded. "Are we running away? The government wants us to fight Tsunami, so do we—"

"You won't fight," Yan Lin said slowly. "I'm getting you all out of here before the government messes you up like they did with me. But I will go face Tsunami. She wants me, and only me. I'm not getting you kids further involved—"

"You already got us involved," Will said sharply. "And besides, you don't have any powers. We should be the ones to—"

"Look, Will, this isn't your concern. I appreciate your concern," Yan Lin paused and took a deep breath, "but I need to handle this alone."

"But you can't, Aunt Yan," Hay Lin's sudden burst pulled everyone's attention. Hay Lin pushed forward, throwing out her hand, held in the air palm down. "Listen, whatever grievances you've had about the past, it's time to let it go. We can't hold onto our guilt and shame forever."

Yan Lin stared blankly at Hay Lin, internally surprised by her outburst. Hay Lin nodded at her hand. "We're in this together," she continued. "We're both fighting Tsunami."

Will put her hand on top of Hay Lin's. "I'm in, too." She grinned at Yan Lin. "I'm not letting you join the rest of your team."

"Me, three," Taranee said, joining the hands with her own. "It's like what Hay Lin said. We're in this together."

"Count me in!" Irma whooped, slapping her hand on top of the others. She got weird looks from the others, so she grinned sheepishly. "What? Anything that has to do with butt-whooping, I want in on the action."

"Well," Cornelia said, clapping her hands together, "I always wanted to be part of a team. So," she rested her hand on top, "I'm in." Everyone then turned their heads to Yan Lin, looking up at her wishfully. Yan Lin, sighed, smiling in spite of herself, and waved her hands in front of her face. "Okay, okay. I get the picture. You can come."

"Can we get codenames?" Irma asked energetically.

"Yeah, can we?" Hay Lin pleaded, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Yan Lin sighed, shaking her head. "You need codenames—" she began to say, but her voice was drowned out by the others begging, "Please-please, can we get codenames?"

"Okay, okay!" Yan Lin once more waved her hands out in front. She pointed at Irma, "I dub you Super-Annoying Girl, you," pointing at Cornelia, "the Golden Wonder," pointing at Hay Lin, "Vanishing Woman," pointing at Taranee, "Scaredy-Cat," finally pointing at Will, "and you, Lightning Lass."

"Aw, that name sucks!" Irma said.

"I was hoping for something more encouraging," Taranee said quietly.

"The Golden Wonder?" Cornelia yawned. "Boring!"

"I've heard better from four year-olds," Hay Lin stated bluntly.

"Why can't we pick our names?" Will asked.

"Alright, fine!" Yan Lin said, throwing her hands up in the air. "You pick your names."

"Okay, then," Will turned to face the others. "So what do you think best suits me?"

"The Thunder Bolt!" Irma blurted out.

"How 'bout Electra?" Taranee suggested.

"No, no, it's got to do with her features and powers," Cornelia said as a matter of fact. "Like Red Bolt or something."

"Red Lightning!" Hay Lin exclaimed.

Will nodded happily. "Yeah, I like that! Red Lightning, that works perfectly."

"So how 'bout me?" Hay Lin asked. "What's gonna be my codename?"

"It's got to do something with your powers," Irma said.

"How about Houdini?" Cornelia offered. "You know, cuz you're always disappearing like him."

"If she's Houdini, I want to be Aquarius," Irma said. "Like from the Zodiac."

"Then I'll be Wonder." Cornelia winked at Yan Lin. "I liked the Wonder part, not so much the Golden part."

"And I can Volcana," Taranee said.

"Yeah!" Hay Lin said.

"Fits perfectly," Will said with approval in her voice.

"Okay, then," Yan Lin said, stepping in. "Now that everyone's happy with your codenames, I'd like to show you something." She pointed above her head. Will and the others looked up, surprised to see handwriting on the lower hanging ceiling, each signature a codename from one of the original Zenith team. Yan Lin reached into her pocket and pulled out a red sharpie, holding it out to be taken. "Welcome to the Zenith Team, girls."

"Cool!" Irma snagged the marker and scribbled her name on the ceiling. The others took their turns writing their codenames down. Once it was done, Yan Lin nodded her head with approval and said, "Okay, team, time to kick Tsunami butt!"

"Yay!" the others exclaimed, pumping their fists into the air and flowing their leader into one of the greatest battles ever.


	8. Chapter 8

Yan Lin poked her head out from behind a pillar, watching carefully as two heavily armed guards walked down a hallway.

Taranee gulped, shaking like a leaf. "H-how we gonna get past all these guards?"

"We're superheroes," Irma insisted. "We take them." She was shaking, too, but only from the excitement of an adventure.

"Shhh," Yan Lin hushed, putting a finger up to her lips. "If we're going to get past them, then we'll need to be quiet."

"Like a mouse," Hay Lin chimed in.

But just when the group started moving, a yelp of pain sounded from the hallway. Yan Lin held out one hand as she peeped over the corner.

"Brian!" Yan Lin gasped loudly, almost too loudly, as she watched the poor man being dragged against his will through the hallway. She quickly covered her mouth, but the guards turned their heads toward her. One took out his club and shouted, "Hey!"

Yan Lin took several steps back. She looked at the girls, all looking at her with anticipation. "Change of plans," she said. "Run!"

The girls, hear the hollering in the hallway, didn't need to be told twice. They all bolted, running behind Yan Lin as they tried to lose the guards.

"Quick!" the former captain, Yan Lin, exclaimed. "In here!" She slid into a janitor's closet, holding the door open for the kids. Once everyone was in, she slammed the door shut. Heavy foot steps echoed through the hallway as guards hollered to one another, checking every nook and cranny of the base.

"Yan Lin," Hay Lin whispered. "What are we going to do?"

"I'll tell you what we should be doing," Irma said, her blue eyes alit. "We should be out there kicking some serious bad-guy butt!"

"No!" Yan Lin commanded. "We'll wait for the guards to leave, then we'll leave."

"But isn't that like running away?" Will asked. "I thought superheroes didn't run away."

Superheroes don't run away. Those words echoed through Yan Lin's head. A shiver ran down her spine. Her mind drifted into the past, where time had been good, and she had not been a bitter, old woman . . .

Tsunami and her had been cornered behind a building during a 'small' alien invasion. But just because the numbers were small didn't mean the aliens were. Tsunami had turned to her, her face alit with passion, and she shouted, "We can't just run away, Ace! Superheroes don't run away."

Shaking her head back to present, Yan Lin sucked in a deep breath. If her late friends were here, they'd agree with Will. Clenching her fists, Yan Lin muttered, "Alrighty then. No more running away. Not anymore."

"What?" Taranee asked, being the closest to Yan Lin and having heard the woman mutter something to herself.

Yan Lin shook her head. "Nothing." Then, her hands balled into fists, she threw open the closet door and shouted, "Zenith team, unite!"

"Wahoo!!" Irma cheered, jumping right out. "Finally some action."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Irma," Cornelia agreed, joining her. "Or, should I say, Aquarius?"

"Back at cha, Golden Wonder!" Irma hooted.

Cornelia rolled her eyes, growling, "It's just Wonder, Irma. Remember? We agreed on that."

"And don't forget the Red Lightning!" Will said dramatically, stepping forward in a pose of greatness.

"And Volcana!" Taranee peeped up.

"And last but not least, the amazing Houdini!" Hay Lin waved her fingers in front of her in a mystical fashion.

Yan Lin watched as two guards tried to tackle Hay Lin. The young Chinese girl laughed, her body turning invisible before everyone's eyes, causing the two guards to freak out and slam into each other.

Irma lifted her hands up and blasted more on coming guards. Yan Lin gestured in the direction of where she had last seen Brian. "Come on! We need to rescue Brian!"

"Right!" Will said. Lightning sparked through her hair and she bolted forward, blasted one guard square in the chest before continuing.

When they arrived to Brian's assistance, there was a total was ten guards, and none of them looked very pleased.

Hay Lin reappeared, gulping loudly. "Any ideas?" she asked when all of the guards pulled out stun guns.

"I do!" Before anyone could ask who said that, Brian spin himself in a circle, suddenly a dome-shaped vortex. It not only knocked the stun guns out of every one of their hands, it also knocked the men out.

Brian staggered around after the spinning, shaking his head. He then smiled sheepishly at Yan Lin and the new Zenith team, stating, "I wasn't exactly the most normal of kids."

"Really?" Yan Lin said, but she didn't press further. She looked at him up and down and asked him, "Where's the general?"

"He already left." Brian's face lost all its humor and bore a grim expression. "He's probably expecting the Zenith team to arrive all radiated up."

"Does he really think we'll have no side effects?" Taranee gaped in shock. Brian shook his head. "Actually, if you don't show up as expected, he'll just use his other plan."

"Which is . . ?" Irma asked.

Brian stared directly at Yan Lin as he spoke the next words. "He plans on killing Tsunami, Yan Lin."

* * *

Yan Lin buckled the seatbelt solemnly, her face never losing its serious look.

"Yan Lin?" Cornelia leaned forward, peeking over her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Would you be alright," Irma said, speaking for the former captain, "if one of your best friends was going to be killed?"

"No, I guess I wouldn't," Cornelia sighed. She sat back down and buckled herself back down.

Will looked at Brian, who had insisted on tagging along. "So, where and when is Tsunami going to land?"

Brian checked his watch, squinting at it with his bright green eyes. "Hmm, in about ten minutes, exactly 500 kilometers from here in the northeast border."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Irma exclaimed. "Let's get going!"

"I agree!" Taranee chirped in. Yan Lin said nothing as she stuck her hands into the slim and launched the flying saucer into the air.

Don't worry, Cassidy, Yan Lin thought. I'm coming. This time will be different.

* * *

The General looked at his watch. "Two minutes, sharp." He looked at Dr. Grant, asking, "Do you have everything ready?"

The doctor nodded eagerly. "Yessir. Everything is prepared for Tsunami."

"Excellent." The General looked over at the gorge where the ex-Zenith team member would be touching down. He looked once more at his watch.

One and half minutes and counting.

* * *

"We're not going to make it!" Taranee said worriedly.

"Yes, we will!" Yan Lin snapped. "We're going to make it. If I have anything to say about it?"

* * *

The solider brought up a microphone to his mouth and spoke into the speaker. "Final count-down. Twenty . . . nineteen . . . eighteen . . . seventeen . . . six—"

The count-down was interrupted by the sound of flying saucer. The spinning machine glided over the gorge, stopping there.

At the same time, a red cloud of dust began to collect in the center of the gorge. Tsunami was almost here.

Yan Lin jumped off the controls and ran toward the exit. Hay Lin grabbed hold of her aunt's sleeve and cried out, "Don't go! You don't have any powers. Tsunami will tear you to bits."

"I'm her friend," Yan Lin said, shaking Hay Lin off. "She would never do that."

"She killed your teammates!" Cornelia snapped.

"The radiation messed with her brain!" Yan Lin snapped back. "I have to try. I can't just sit here and watch Cassidy get killed by the general. Besides, if worst comes to worst, I don't want you kids hurt. So if something does happen, get out of here. Understand? Do not try to follow me." She then turned around and jumped off the ship.

Irma glanced at Will.

"We're following, right?" Irma asked.

Will gave her a mischievous grin. "You know it."

* * *

By now the swirling red dust had grown to a great vortex, the maelstrom howling and growling as powerful energy radiated from it.

Yan Lin kept her distance at first. She didn't know if Cassidy would still recognize her after all these years being stuck in another dimension.

Lightning crackled, and the maelstrom disappeared, leaving behind a body laying in the sand. Yan Lin took a careful step forward.

The eyes suddenly opened, red and forbidding, and the person struggled to her feet, looking around rapidly, trying to take in everything at once in every detail.

It was Cassidy.

Smiling, Yan Lin began slowly making her way to the ex-zenith member. She laughed and said, "Cassidy? My goodness, it is you."

Cassidy turned her head to look directly at Yan Lin, fire-red eyes glowering in anger and rage. Yan Lin held out her hands peacefully, continuing to walk toward her old friend and still talking. "Cassidy, it's me, Yan Lin. It's Yan Lin. Nobody wants to fight you. I just want to talk."

As if she suddenly remembered her manners, Cassidy straightening, smirking at Yan Lin's appearance. "Wow. You got old, buddy."

Yan Lin chuckled herself, trying to sound as casual and peaceful as possible. "Yeah. Well, I guess I didn't have the advantage of living large in some dimensional rift where I don't age . . ."

Cassidy stomped her foot, interrupting ruefully, "Living large? Try alone. Conscious only of being betrayed by you in that living hell."

"Betrayed?" Yan Lin repeated, looking offended. "You took out the whole team."

Cassidy shook her head slowly. "You shouldn't have tried to stop me, Yannie."

"Hey, what did Conner say about you calling me Yannie?" Yan Lin said, suddenly losing her cool and took a threatening step forward. Cassidy held out both hands and blast Yan Lin with hydro-pumped water. The former captain cried out and gagged as she spluttered water out of her mouth.

Cassidy took a suspicious step forward, observing her old friend with curious red eyes. "Have you lost your powers, Yan?" Without waiting for an answer, she again blasted Yan Lin with high-powered water. With a cruel sneer on her face, she confirmed, "You have lost your powers, Yan."

"Leave her alone!" A giant boulder slammed down at Cassidy. Unfortunately, the redhead saw the move coming and moved out of the way just in time. She whirled around to see Cornelia holding both hands out, smaller rocks floating around her. Tsunami sneered at the blond. "A newbee? Aw, Yannie, you shouldn't have. Now I've got twice the number of test dummies for my new powers."

Yan Lin struggled back to her feet, croaking, "Cassidy . . . don't."

Cassidy narrowed her eyes lethally as she growled, "Too late," and blasted Cornelia with a giant hydro-blast.


	9. Chapter 9

Yan Lin couldn't explain how it happened. One minute she was now her knees, the next she had ran out to intercept the water blast, hoping to get Cornelia out of the way.

Her wish had been granted. As Yan Lin ran, she felt the wind beating heavily against her skin and hair, her feet barely touching the ground as she carried Cornelia out of harm's way.

When Yan Lin arrived at the boulder where the others were camping out, she gave them all the lecture of a lifetime.

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT FOLLOWING ME?!" the former captain screamed in their faces, her face redder than Will's hair.

"Hey, Corny just saved your life," Irma snapped. "Be a little more grateful."

"And where did that put her?" Yan Lin demanded. "I ended up having to save her."

Cornelia was speechless at the moment, still trying to sort out the events that was occurring.

"Well," Hay Lin said hesitantly, "look on the bright side. You saved Cornelia and you've also got your powers back."

"That doesn't make up for what could have happened," Yan Lin retorted. Then the former captain took in a deep breath and sighed heavily. "But, you're right. No one's hurt . . . yet. And I do have my powers back."

"But I thought you said your powers were gone," Taranee pointed out. "How'd you get them back?"

"I don't think Yan Lin ever lost her powers," Will stated. "She just lost all reason to use them after sending one of her best friends into another dimension. Now she's got a reason."

"I was hoping someday something like this would happen." Brian stepped up to the former captain and said, "Yan Lin, take this."

"What's that?" Yan Lin asked, pointing at the folded up uniform in Brian's hands. Brian smiled down at his handy work. "It's a special suit. It's specially built so it can take any form of speed, even the sonic boom."

"Good," Yan Lin said, snatching the suit up. "'Cause I might be needing this for later."

"You've got a plan?" Will asked. Yan Lin smiled in return. "Don't I have always?"

* * *

The General snorted as he watched Tsunami with an expert eye. "Foolish Yan Lin. That's why she'll never be a general. She can't always try to help those twisted jerks out there." He turned to a pair of scientists, calling out, "Is it ready?"

"Yes sir!" Both of them saluted, nodding. "All set and ready to go."

The General pointed at Cassidy, hollering, "Fire the sonic net!"

The giant net hurdled toward the redhead, its thin wires glowing with lethal lightning pulses. Cassidy looked up to see this coming toward her. Her expression was not of fear or curiosity. It was cockiness.

Cassidy held out both hands, and the air around them crackled and fizzed violently as she focused more power into them. Then, a blast of cosmic energy blasted out of her palms, almost invisible to the human eye, its only form of visibility a red pulse surrounding it.

The pulse hurdled toward the net and blasted it away from Cassidy. The sonic net then fluttered harmlessly to the ground, no longer a threat.

The General cursed and turned to the scientists. "Get another net ready!"

"But, sir, we only have one more left!" they cried.

The General rolled his eyes angrily. "Then put it to good use. Load it!"

* * *

"Got it?" Yan Lin asked everyone. They all nodded. "Then go," she said, gesturing for them to leave. Scrambling to their feet, the girls got into their position. Mr. Pibb, who had also tagged along for the ride, beeped and rolled up the gorge wall, getting into his own spot.

Cassidy paced back and forth like a hungry, caged animal, her head jerking back and forth in search of movement. Then something caught her sight in the corner of her eye, and then she looked up to see Mr. Pibb perched on the gorge wall nearest her.

"Pibb?" Cassidy asked, smiling. "Well, hope you have an army behind you. You just run up to the big bad guy all willy-nilly now? Is that how it goes?"

She began to prepare another pulse wave when a rock nicked her head. She whirled around to see the blond from before. Behind her were four other girls around the blond's age.

They were all younger than her.

"What's this?" Cassidy shouted, spreading her arms out as if she was expecting more. Which she was. "A bunch of kids being sent out to do an adult's work? You've got to be joking!" She then created a massive pulse wave and send it their way. Will cried out, "Scatter!" and dived for the nearest piece of shelter. The others mimicked her, and the pulse wave harmlessly bashed against the rock.

Cassidy again resumed her pacing, hollering angrily at the heavens, "Is that it? Is that all you've got? Is that it? Is there anyone else who can face me?" She stopped her pacing suddenly, grinning widely. "Yannie. Nice for you to finally join the party." She turned to look at Yan Lin, who stood on the tallest wall in the gorge. Cassidy snorted ruefully, "Nice suit, lizard girl."

Yan Lin self-consciously knew her new suit did make her look almost lizard-like, but she ignored the redhead's comments and said, "The time has come, Cassidy. Are you ready?"

Cassidy laughed darkly. "I've been waiting years for this, Yan Lin. Now for my vengeance!"

Yan Lin jumped off the wall and sped toward her, gliding past the redhead before she could react. "Now!" Yan Lin hollered.

A giant lightning bolt zapped Cassidy, sending her rocketing in the air. A rock then came out of nowhere, slapping against her and making her fly a little longer.

Fire boiled off the earth's surface, creating a circle of fire. Cassidy held out her hands to get ready for a hydro-blast, but some invisible force grabbed her by the collar and slammed her hard into the rock. Hay Lin jumped off Cassidy, screaming and waving, "We got her!"

Irma used her water powers and prevented Cassidy from using her water-bond powers. But Cassidy didn't mind that much. Her new power was stronger than her original, and it would stop these babies in their tracks.

Just when Cassidy began to create a pulse wave, Yan Lin appeared out of nowhere and began running in circles around the redhead, an echo of years ago when the two first faced off against each other.

Cassidy howled and anger. "I will not be defeated!" she screamed angrily. Yan Lin ignored the cries of rage and kept muttering to herself, "Must save Cassidy!"

The speed of the former captain's run changed into a vortex of red energy. It was much like when Yan Lin had trapped Cassidy in another dimension.

Only, there was one difference.

Yan Lin stopped running, disrupting the portal to another dimension. But the energy exerted from Cassidy was still increasing, still rapidly growing inside the vortex. Then, before anyone could say, "Trigonometry," the vortex collapsed in on itself and sucked itself in.

Cassidy was laying on her back, her eyes closed and her body limp.

Taranee gulped, stuttering, "S-she's not . . . dead, is she?"

Yan Lin walked over to the redhead and touched her cheek. "No, she's alive."

Suddenly, without warning, Cassidy's eyes snapped open again. But her eyes were no longer red, as the red faded away, leaving her original eye color left; blue. Cassidy pushed herself, looked around, then stared at Yan Lin. Everyone around tensed. They were ready for another fight.

But none came.

Cassidy, choking on her own words, said, "Y-Yan Lin . . . I . . . I'm so sorry."

Yan Lin smiled, nodding her head. "It's good to see you again, Cassidy." Then the former captain turned her head and called to the others, "Hey, kids, come say hello to my bestest bud ever."

And everyone came up to meet the original Cassidy, the one before the Gamma Radiation corrupted her brain and drove her to insanity.

* * *

Time past, and the Zenith team was renewed as a successful project.

The ray gun was destroyed, never to used again for mutant experiments.

The girls returned to their normal lives, but when the Zenith team called, they united together, ready to take on any and every challenge, along with their friends Brian, Mr. Pibb, Cassidy, and Captain Ace, aka Yan Lin.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

**CS: Haha, I added the happily ever part as a joke. Well, this one's done. Yay!!!!!!!!!**


End file.
